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Classics of "Painting of the
Theatre" Using Colored Inks
Text/ Li Chaio

From the 1950s until the 1960s was the period of Lin Fengmian's important artistic development. One of his main characteristics was the portrayal of theatrical figures in his paintings. This painter borrowed scenes taken from the stage of traditional operas and proceeded with the creation of painting theatrical figures by using coloured inks. In his paintings, there were elements of emphasis on exploring forms, on supplying spirituality and on expressing his own feelings and innate knowledge using stories from traditional operas. He once said: "I like to see movies and operas. However good or bad, they always interest me as long as there are images, actions and variety."As a matter of fact, what charm Lin is neither the stories of operas nor the acting skill or performing style. What he is eager to do is simply hua xi (meaning: 'painting theatre stages'. Lin's coloured-ink work, "Opera Figures"is one of his portrayals of "paintings theatre stages"from this period.

In fact, Lin's hua xi is not for representation of beauty of theatrical stages, but for exploration of a type of form, that is, in his own phrase-"sense of continuity of synthesis."In other words, he tries to make a representation of time using physical phenomena in space. A remarkable point of the painting, "Opera Figures" in exploring forms, is the use of methods such as three-dimensional separation, two-dimensional cutting, symbols, unrestrained lines, and contrast of colours like black, blue, red and white. With the use of all these, unprecedented dramatic and powerful theatrical scenes can be depicted in his paintings. This painter's perception towards power and beauty, good and evil, history and reality is brought into his paintings of heroically tragic and disorderly scenes. Undoubtedly, he learns these from Western modern art ideas and techniques in order to search for a method of expression method allowing a new modeling in time and space. In one letter to a friend in 1951, he wrote: "I would like to take the actions of old traditional operas, break them up and then reconstruct them for creation. Maybe I can obtain conceptions of time and synthesis from such scenes."

Lin's recreation of figures from traditional operas has a transition process: the painter's transformation from keeping imagery of stages and characteristics of theatrical space into being outside of theatrical space and plots. Lin expresses his emotions, thoughts and concepts using the representation of theatre-like modeling. He also pours his own life experience and inner world into the creation. This can be said as the recreation of his enlargement of distance with the art of theatre stages and is meantime an important breakthrough in the painting of figures from traditional operas. This breakthrough is an expressive method of new time-and-space modeling. The work, "Opera Figures"is one belonging to this type of breakthrough. In continuity with his other paintings related to traditional operas, this work emphasizes dynamic capture. Lin uses geometric shapes to depict figures, adds straight and curved lines to form outlines and composes blocks of black and brown as a basic tone to construct imagery. As a result, a two-dimensional decorative style is generated as well as a visual perception of theatrical figures endowed with heaviness and richness.

In fact, Lin's modeling of figures of traditional operas (such as his expertise at depicting ladies, his touching scenes of fishing villages and all kinds of still life), is the one obtained after he has experienced the significance of combining Eastern and Western artistic languages at different levels. Take the example of theatrical figures in his Opera Figures. On the one hand, the process of his constructing artistic ideas is influenced by coloured-ink modeling and post-impressionism, fauvism and cubism. He tries to combine internal structures of objects and rich colours and free brush strokes. Therefore, it is undoubted that this work's imagery modeling demonstrates the artist's simple and unadorned artistic search and high-quality mastery of visual symbolism. Representation of use of techniques of generalized scenes where figures are located highlights his move towards simplified modeling of figures. In a foundation of simple basic tone, an effect of rich variety is represented. On the other hand, Lin's use of rice paper, ink and the writing brush shows that he uses authentic traditional painting materials as his main medium. His colours and lines of ink cause spectacular light and transparent effects, and folk art language is also brought in - these show his keenness in the arena of painting languages. Through the hua xi work made by Lin, we still sense Chinese traditional aesthetic concepts of being proud and aloof, silent and hushed, and of vast and cold states. Thus he genuinely opened an innovative path for Chinese coloured-ink painting.